The Spice & Tea Exchange

Great service mixed with wonderful products! There is a plethora of teas, salts, sugars, spices and mixes for different dishes. The ginger sugar and the sweet onion are mouth pleaders.

Excellent customer service, the sales woman worked there was very friendly and greeted us immediately when we entered the store. She didn’t press us to buy anything but was very helpful. Although we didn’t buy anything on this visit, we may buy some spices on our next visit. Because we think the price point was too high compares to other stores’. If their spices and teas are organic, then those are definitely worth the price. But given the fact that it is located at a touristy location and the rent there must be high, so the price point is understandable. Nice stopping by and checking out this place!

This is my first time in the shop and I’ll probably come back next time I’m in San Francisco… Lovely little place And I’ll even ship their tea and spices internationally.

This is a cute little spice store upstairs at Pier 39. I bought some salt and mulling spices and then working there was very kind and helpful. I look forward to returning in my next visit to the pier.

This place was so pleasing mind you I would’ve taken a look at their spices salts and such but at the moment I was looking for tea. It wasn’t the hugest selection but fairly enough and had all types of teas. Unlike other tea places their ingredients are organic and not artificial. Which I was happy about. I ended up getting the emperor’s chai, and white tropical both smelled fantastic. They allow you to smell the teas before purchasing.
Customer service wise both of them were very friendly and checked up on me and asked if I needed any help which is honestly the best service there is. They even have lovely sections of everything for at home. The guy at the counter even gave me the business card with the hours and such mentioning I can order and they can hold it at their store which is even better. He also gave me something to look forward too when I run out of my green tea mints haha. They even have tea pots, and iced tea makers. It’s a nice little shop and definitely somewhere you should visit if you’re on pier 39.
I think the only sad part, but won’t knock them down cause no where does it mention it’s a place to get drinks. Is that they can’t make these drinks behind the counter but overall definitely is a 5 star place in my book.

Great customer service. They helped us pick the tea we wanted and went over all the flavors and let us smell them. Let us try some amazing sugar. Looking forward to trying my new black blueberry tea!

Neat place if your looking for spices for cooking. The staff is very helpful here

Nice Store with great tea and spice blends. And nice staff too. It is a little pricy, so not for the everyday tea consume (at least not for my wallet ;))

Awesome experience!
Do you like to cook? Do you enjoy trying new spices? Need recipe ideas for the spices? Do you know someone that likes to cook?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you will love this place!
When we walked in, Stephan asked, «Have you been here before?» We haven’t but we’ve been to the one in New Orleans. Stephan said, «This one is the best»!
Attitude, love it!
There’s a selection of recipes with the spices for the recipes in front. What a great idea! Chef inspired recipes! We bought several! We will enjoy trying the recipes!
Great selection of salts, peppers, chili powders, curries, teas, etc!
Richard & Stephan are great! I can wait to return!
The best? … have to agree!

So we found this place while walking around in the second level at Pier 39 and they had the genius idea of venting the portable AC out he door so the smell was really inviting. The 2 guys (I think they owned the place) were incredibly nice & very knowledgeable.
We’ve already tried a couple of the rubs and they were terrific.
They have an incredible selection.
You should check it out.

Amazing service here with all the jars that you can smell to find the perfect spice or tea.
Super friendly staff
We will definitely be back!

Located on the second floor of Pier 39.
The first trip was about two years ago when I was in the area for a business trip. I wanted to bring my girlfriend a gift. The owners, Richard and Stefan, were working and so helpful to help me bring something home. I picked up some teas and my girlfriend was blown away by the choices and flavors.
Second trip and succeeding trips I visited with the girlfriend and have purchased many refilling her tea and picked up some spices for food. Again we were helped by the owners and the staff. Each trip including the first trip, we have been greeted friendly and promptly to make some quality tea choices.
The teas are reason enough to visit this shop. I have visited the other Spice & Tea Exchange and offerings are not as good as this location. This is one of the smaller shops (due to location), but offers more selections around. There are spice packages to make awesome items such as pizza dip, pumpkin caramel spiced nuts, cheesy dip, corn chowder to name a few. The pizza dip is a must to pick up. I have sold it to friends and coworkers.
The staff that the owners have hired are more friendlier than the other locations. There is a also a reward program for repeat customers like myself that get rewards the purchases. Shop also offers a phone in order program, which isn’t run with the remainder of the company (better deal to phone in to save on shipping costs)
Good: Fresh teas (more better than Teavana), great customer service, awesome recipe ideas. reward program
Bad: wish I lived closer to this store.
Overall five stars for everything. I am a repeat offender here.

This kinda place is like crack for my girlfriend and I. We both love spice blends and homemade sauces… And she absolutely loves tea blends.
We walked into this place and it was clearly a tourist trap for foodies. Everywhere… Every wall! Spices… Teas… Sauces! Too many!
I decided to take it easy and not buy too many things, but what I did get was amazing! I got an awesome BBQ rub and a jerk chicken spice blend. Both were awesome. The jerk chicken spice blend is great in something like a chicken salad, or to roast some chicken in the oven. The BBQ rub worked well for BBQ on the grill… Mmm. So good!
The only problem I had with this issue (and the one thing keeping it from five stars) is that it’s a big pricier than I’m used to when it comes to this type of thing. I imagine it’s because it’s in a very touristy area of San Francisco, but it was still a bit more than I expected. $ 1 less per spice blend would’ve made me buy another one.

I love this place! I wasn’t from San Francisco so when I would come and visit, this store was a must. I recently moved to the city and i will be visiting often. This weekend i stopped by and bought their new PUMPKIN CARAMEL CREME tea and i love it. It smells so incredibly good. Its sweet and smooth with out any added sugar and I just love that sweet after taste it leaves in your mouth.
As far as the spices, i haven’t tried many but from what I’ve tried the PIRATE’S BITE is my favorite. I love spicy food and when I want to add spice to any of my dishes, I love using this.

I feel deeply ashamed that this is my first review for The Spice & Tea Exchange. Richard and Stefan are quite possibly the most charming people in a retail setting that I have ever met and deserve my praise and the myriad kudos I see below. Charm is not a common trait for people who are so deep into their craft and able to geek-​out about it for hours. Whenever you have a question, they have the answer at the ready. If your question has to do with flavor, texture, quantity, packaging, recipes, intensity, longevity, standards, aroma, gift ideas, or anything — and I mean anything — having to do with cooking with these spices, sugars, teas and salts, you have to but to ask. If you have a stumper, I’d bet my motorcycle that you would not leave without an answer.
Richard is a salesperson with no equal. Stefan is a master chef (by ‘chef’, I mean ‘genius kitchen chemist’). We walked out spending around 100 dollars on stuff we didn’t know we loved until we spent some time with Richard and Stefan. Spices are not cheap and when they are this robust and expertly blended and handled, you are easily getting your money’s worth. Besides, I can use a fraction of what I would normally use from my bulk spices supplies, due to the flavor intensity of the higher quality ingredients.
My wife and I were intent merely on getting our Tuscany Blend and Aleppo Peppers refilled, but ended up finding a new store to love for my sister and obtaining their new Colonial Seasoning, Vik’s Garlic Fix, Habanero Sugar (yow!), Spicy Pumpkin Caramel Nuts mix, Pumpkin Crunch Loaf (with baking pointers — Thank you, Stefan.), Pumpkin Ice Cream mix, our trusted Tuscany Blend and crushed Aleppo Peppers, something new called Pirate’s Bite (one of those miracle blends where great flavor walks hand-​in-​hand with a lip-​tingling heat), Romano Cheese Powder, Cheddar Cheese Powder, Black Chocolate Tea, Hazelnut Cookie Tea, and Earl Grey Crème Tea.
The Hazenut Cookie Tea is something I’m drinking right now. I made a pot last night and tried it hot with milk and sugar and without. Both were good, though I favored the milk and sugar preparation slightly. Then I added another pot’s worth of hot water to the already used tea leaves and FORGOT about it overnight. I am nothing if not adventurous when putting foods in my mouth that haven’t necessarily gone bad, so I took a sip. I immediately added a little more water and chilled it. This has got to be the best unsweetened iced tea I have ever had. The hazelnut cookie flavor as iced tea is precisely like the smell of the tea leaves. It has made the list when I return and I will recommend it loudly to all my friends and iced tea lovers.
The Pirate’s Bite spice blend is so good that we went out to Boudin right away, got clam chowder bread bowls and a Havarti cheese «pizza» and covered everything in lots of piratey goodness. All three of us were in hog heaven and when we polished up with a salted caramel hot chocolate from Ghirardelli, we had an exquisite evening of flavor that I haven’t experienced since my first venture into Thai food. If you decide to try such a lovely evening of dressed-​up, simple food, I recommend that you ask Ghirardelli to cut your caramel portion by half, since ours were so drenched in the overly sweet stuff that we threw away the last half an inch at the bottom of the cup for being all caramel. No, wait — I forgot that I sipped mine away anyway. My wife and sister discarded theirs. To each their own!
Please do visit The Spice & Tea Exchange and bring a mind hungry for possibilities in cooking and culinary bliss. Cooks, bakers, chefs, grillers, mixologists, beer-​lovers, oenophiles, and foodies will assuredly find something here that they have not yet discovered. Imagination and this jam-​packed store together are the key to bringing new life and possibly, a new direction, to your kitchen. You’ll find yourself dreaming up food to cook just so that you can try some of the offerings!
While there, be certain to check out their wooden grinders, too! They are beautiful and classy.

I was greeted by a nice man with a great sense of humor and a flurry of different smells. I love tea so immediately I went to the tea section and although they are pricey, you can smell just how fresh they are and the quality. I purchased Marrakesh Mint and Mint-​Chilla Chai Nilla. Both are unlike anything I have ever tasted.
The Marrakesh mint tastes and smells like it has just been picked from an herb garden and the taste is refreshing! The Mint-​Chilla Chai-​Nilla is a very difficult taste to describe so I will just name the ingredients and let you imagine the taste: A pu-​erg chai tea with creamy vanilla, bright peppermint and a touch of cinnamon. It is a rich smooth tea that adds a refreshing minty twist to the traditional chai tea flavors.
I will definitely be buying from the again as soon as I can: D

It’s a fun experience to come in and smell all the spices and taste the sugars. Some sales can give you attitude if you try to many things, but who cares?! Just come in and explore the world of spices. You’d be amazed by the wonderful smells.
However, if you do decide to buy, stick with the spices, which are pricey. But the tea is pricier and you can find much cheaper alternatives somewhere else.

Wonderful smells, very friendly staff. Lots of sampling and help to find just what you are looking for. (from ⁴⁄₂₀₁₃)

Stopped here as I was roaming around, and was greeted by an extremely nice gentleman. I bought two teas as gifts for my mom, and she really liked them. I unfortunately won’t be back as I live across the country, but if in the area, and like specialized teas, stop in.

I love all the Spice and Tea Exchange shops. I thought they were only in FL, but lo and behold when we went to Pier 39 aka Fisherman’s Wharf and went upstairs, there it was! *squeals*
It smells so good in here. This location is smaller than the last one I went to, which was in Downtown Disney in Orlando. But I got what I wanted that I didn’t get that time, truffle salt! It’s a bit more than the other salts, which are mostly $ 6.95 for an ounce. The truffle salt was $ 8.95 for an ounce.
You can actually see the truffle bits in there. If you loves salts, spices, and teas this is a place for you. All hard to find spices and salts you will find here.
When the owner (?) was ringing me up, he told me that I can make my own [real] truffle oil by putting some of this salt in some light oil and it will infuse the truffle essence in the oil. He also said they can ship stuff to me if I call and order over the phone, but not to order online, otherwise it would ship from FL and shipping would be more expensive. He also asked to put me on the mailing list so I could get monthly recipes and coupons!
And don’t be shy like me; ask for some samples!